


Messy (Lauren Jauregui/Kendall Jenner)

by silent12reader



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band), Keeping Up with the Kardashians RPF
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Femslash, alternative universe, kenren - Freeform, lake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 20:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12350319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silent12reader/pseuds/silent12reader
Summary: After a series of tragic events in her love life, Lauren finds herself vowing she'll be single for a year. She finds it hard to stick with her  promise when everyone is, once again, insisting she's on a relationship with someone she's barely friends with. It certainly does not help that Kendall Jenner is really pretty, hot and cool at the same time, and definitely certainly more than what meets the eye.orLauren Jauregui and Kendall Jenner became close friends after an innocent picture together and realized they're better together even if they are both messy. Fifth Harmony, lead by Dinah, and pretty much everyone bets that how long it'll take for Lauren to date again.





	1. Hot Potato

**Author's Note:**

> Timelines are a mess, but whenever that is, this is 4 months after Tyren's break up.
> 
> PS. This chapter is gonna bit OOC, esp to Kendall, but hey. This is RPF so everyone will at least be 10% OOC.

If you ask Lauren ‘when it really started’ then she’d probably answer _this_ , because we all know how dramatic and sentimental she is.  
  
She was up really early for a show they are doing, and she’s been up late last night(or this morning??) with Dinah, but #professionalism so here she is. Though the cranky mood the green-eyed girl has wouldn’t go unnoticed, she tried her best to show off a polite smile to everyone and greet them. Ally, God bless her, gives her a cup of coffee and reminds her that she loves her but that she has to pretend that she is having the best time of her life even though she’d rather go have another hour of sleep. She begrudgingly thinks of Dinah probably still sleeping. _Of_  
_course, she’ll always be the second for glam, while her party-buddy_  
_picked fourth._  
  
She notices her phone lights up for _another_ incoming notification. She would have ignored it, but it has been the sixth time it lit up in 2 seconds. She suddenly felt a slight tinge in her heart, wondering if something happened while she was asleep.  
  
_‘What is it now?_  
  
Clearly someone would have said something, right?  
  
Regardless, she took her phone and read the message.  
  
It’s from her best friend, Alexa.  
  
A sigh of relief, uncontrollably left her lips.  
  
**ALEXA:** YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!

 **ALEXA:** LAUREN!!!

 **ALEXA:** I JUST GOT BOOKED TO WALK FOR TOMMY HILFIGER!!!

 **ALEXA:** I WANTED TO TELL YOU FIRST BECAUSE I KNOW YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE (and ONLY) FAN

 **ALEXA:** YOU BETTER BE MY PLUS ONE TO THISSS!!!  
  
**ALEXA** : I CAN’T BREATHE LIKE OMG I CANT BELIEVE THIS WOULD HAPPEN LIKE HLPPP??  
  
Her eyes widen, and had to re-read it for the fifth time to make sure she’s not dreaming. She immediately dials her friend’s phone, in response.  
  
She frowns when she keeps redirecting to her friend’s voicemail. She just got a message from her two seconds ago. What even?  
  
With shaky hands, she quickly types her response.

 **LAUREN:** Well, answer my call, so you can hear me gush about youuu!!!’  
  
She got a reply soon too, which confuses her more.  
  
**ALEXA:** Talk later. I’m about to go to class  
  
She laughs lightly, she’s about to respond when she sees her friend typing.  
  
**ALEXA:** I know what you’re thinking. But I DID NOT shed blood and tears until 3 hours ago, studying for this pain in the ass exam I have at 7am in the morning, only to fail it.  
  
Instead of another remark, she settles in with a quick response,

 **LAUREN:** Well go make me proud mama. Kick ass in your exams!! Xx  
  
“Weren’t you up until 2am? What got you smiling?” Normani asks as she takes Lauren’s place in front of the mirror.  
  
“Ally’s coffee” Lauren said as she offers the cup to Normani, which the girl quickly declines, “Ew no. That’s too sweet for my taste.”

* * *

 

A few celebratory post here and there on how proud she is to her BFASFLAH, then flash forward to now… True to Alexa’s words, she invited Lauren to the afterparty of the show. Alexa, one of the models for Gigi’s Collection, has been booked to walk in their Tommy Hilfiger's Fall collection.  
  
So there Lauren is gushing to everyone she knew at the event on how amazing and beautiful Alexa was, just like the proud mom she is.  
  
“Hun, I love you. But one more drink and you’re gonna start embarrassing us both.” Alexa takes away the drink from Lauren’s hand. “Mostly you.”  
  
“I’ve only had two drinks!!” Lauren insists, but Alexa just gave her a pointed look. It is true that Lauren did more talking thank drinking, but she knows an excited!Lauren is pretty much like a puppy wagging its tail endlessly begging for attention.  
  
She can be cute, but better be sure than sorry.  
  
Not a moment later, a man tapped into Lauren’s shoulder. It’s one of Zayn’s team, who told her to take a picture with Zayn.  
  
She asks Alexa to come with her, but Alexa said she needed to go to the bathroom. After a quick nod, Lauren follows the guy on a suit to Zayn’s location. It’s not like she’s buddy-buddies with Zayn, but they were once in the same label, so it really wouldn’t hurt to have some nice photos out there, right?  
  
Zayn recognized her and offers a smile. They posed for a picture together, then quickly conversed in a small talk until Gigi’s group of models came in.  
  
Lauren suddenly felt out of place, being surrounded with skinny attractive people.  
  
“Hey there, stranger! What’s up?” She’s surprised to be addressed by one of them.  
  
She wasn’t sure it was directed at her, but after a moment of silence, she decided not to embarrass herself more, and say. “Uhmmm. Hi? Nothing much really…?”  
  
…and obviously failing miserably.  
  
Zayn, comes to her aid, and Lauren takes note how she owes him big time. “Kenny, this is Lauren…”  
  
“Of Fifth Harmony, I know. We met a couple of times.” Kendall smiles at her, even offering her a drink. When Lauren didn’t take it, she adds, “…we even talked at that concert one time. And I’m pretty sure we exchanged some ‘hellos’ at like, every Harper’s Bazaar!”  
  
At this, Lauren decides to take the friendly gesture Kendall is sending her way, “Yes, yes! Sorry, I didn’t think you would remember me.”  
  
“You’re kinda hard to forget.”  
  
At that, Lauren finally grabs the drink Kendall had laid out for her, and drink it one go. Yup. This definitely is a dream.  
  
“So who are you with?” Zayn asks, probably finding the situation hilarious by the way he's smiling.  
  
Lauren found herself connecting to Louis the most even before, but right now, she really is considering extending her social list to another One Direction member, (even ex-member at that).  
  
“I’m friends with one of the models…” Which reminded her, holy shit, where the fuck is Alexa?

* * *

 

She hasn’t had the chance to look at her phone until the afternoon the  
 next day. She and Alexa had spent the night together, went out on a late-brunch, reminiscing how much they both enjoyed the event, with Lauren continuously telling Alexa how excited she is for her, now that she has opportunities at her door step.  
  
She rarely had time to spent with her long-time friend so she decides to make the best out of it. Filling their day casually strolling at the New York streets, which they managed without getting mobbed by fans – pro at disappearing when she wants to!! They went back to her hotel so Alexa can get ready for her flight back to Miami.  
  
At that time, Lauren finally takes her phone and see the aftermath of the event.  
  
She had only managed to post one photo in her Instagram of her and Alexa, so she went there first. (She knew very well, if anything else, Twitter can be such a mess)  
  
Smiling proudly at how the comments are mostly filled with positive ones, she casually scrolls through her feed to like some pictures.  
  
She checks her tag, inevitably, and see some of the photos that night. Most were candid pictures of her on the event with Alexa, and some of her solo shots by the paparazzi’s, and there were some of the pictures she took with the celebrities at the afterparty.  
  
So far, no embarrassing pictures yet, or anything worth-harassing her in Twitter. She quickly checks her Snapchat to see what the other girls are up to. Once satisfied, she notices that Alexa is still humming in the shower, so she decides to open her Twitter app to spare time.  
  
She rolls her eyes at the battalion of shipper comments in her mentions, _again_.  
  
Gigi was literally at the corner of the photo of her and Zayn, and people are still shipping her and Zayn. Things people do for aesthetics.  
  
She scrolls past it, and wonders where do people got the ‘hot potato’, that keeps popping up here and there.  
  
She reads some tweets and came across the one that shed the light (but not really)  
  
It’s the picture of her and Kendall, that apparently, Kendall posted in her story. ‘w the hottest potato in town @laurenjauregui’  
  
…  
  
_What?_

* * *

 

_Surprisingly, they were having decent conversation. Lauren had introduced Alexa to everybody, whom some of them already knew, and turned out, it was Lauren who was needed of the introduction. Even though Lauren wasn’t comfortable with the crowd she has never been with, she decided to stay so Alexa can socialize to her new circle._

_Few comments were, ‘it’s finally great to put a face on the name’_  
  
_With some few pictures here and there, Lauren learned how, a ‘squad’ like this really enjoys showing people off when they’re together, and she thinks at how this will affect her. She lowkey expects some ‘social climber’ thrown at her face by some haters, but what can the girl do?/_

_They were laughing at something until Kendall puts out her phone and says, ‘Hey, we’ve always seen each other around at events. Let’s take a picture together.’_

_Lauren shakes her head and says, ‘oh no. I’d love to, trust me I do. But I literally look like a potato.’ Her own insecurity now resurfacing._

_Kendall lets out a laugh, “Are you kidding me? You’re killing it in that dress, and your eyes just blows me away every time! If you’re a potato then you’re be the hottest potato in town!”_

  
…  
  
Right.  
  
So that happened.  
  
She blinks a couple of times as she stares out the ceiling.  
  
‘So you sort of gained a new friend, no big deal, right?’  
  
_Only that, Kendall is probably one of the most followed celebrity in Instagram, and part of this crazy family-filled with drama on a daily basis. Yeah sure, no big deal._  
  
She chastised herself for being pessimistic on this newfound friendship (sort of) just because of Kendall’s reputation. She vaguely remembers the 5-minute conversation they had before she and Alexa parted from the group.  
  
She shakes her head and tries to reel back into reality. She checks back in to Instagram and taps on Kendall’s story.  
  
And there she is, in one of Kendall’s story.  
  
With Kendall finally following her back.  
  
“Hey, what’s up?” Lauren finally looks up to see her friend fresh from  
the shower, drying her hair. “You look a little pale?”  
  
“Honestly? I don’t know anymore.”


	2. 2 The Bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren deal with the aftermath of Kendall posting a picture of them together. Dinah decides to blab her mouth about a stupid bet on how long Lauren will stay single. And Kendall stays unbothered and continues to warm her way in Lauren's life through Leo.

Lauren tried to ignore it, tried to not make a deal out of it.  
  
Her verified mentions are filled with tabloid headlines of the picture of them. Which was ridiculous, because for them to make any kind of story from it is beyond her. What were they supposed to write anyway? Lauren wouldn’t dare click on any of it. Lauren doubts Kendall will comment on it because Lauren is a C-list celebrity, and will do nothingfor Kendall’s career.  
  
She gained a lot of followers because of it, in both Instagram and Twitter. She noticed Kendall’s fans are already lurking on her page, liking pictures of her, even those that dated back to last year. She doesn’t even think she can open her Twitter app anymore.  
  
She figures, she’d let it pass.  
  
They will be on Carpool Karaoke in 2 days, and people will forget about this after that.  
  
Dinah greets her as she puts her phone to silent.  
  
“So, Kenren huh?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Kenren. Kendall and Lauren. It’s kinda hard to miss.”  
  
Great. She turns off her notifications, so universe gives her a live one. This is like trying to get away from A (on PLL).  
  
“Funny.” Lauren deadpans as she maneuvers her way pass Dinah, but Dinah seems to be in the mood to annoy her, quickly tailing her.  
  
“What does it mean hot potato? Is that an inside joke? I’m feeling neglected, Lauren. You’re ignoring me.”  
  
“Lauren” _Poke._  
  
“Laurennnn” _Poke poke._  
  
_"Ralph?” Poke poke_  
  
_Snap!_  
  
“Stop it!”  
  
Lauren glares at Dinah but the younger girl just laughs, clearly amused that she has managed to piss Lauren off again. “It’s nothing, Dinah. I swear!”  
  
“Why would she put you in her story if it’s nothing?”  
  
“Fuck if I know!”  
  
“Lauren, language!”  
  
Lauren winces at Ally’s hush. “Dinah’s been bothering me again.” She says softly.  
  
Dinah raises her hand and continues on tailing Lauren when she moves across the room. “I’m curious. If it’s nothing, why would you be uptight about it?”  
  
“Because!!” Before Lauren can stop it, she’s on a roll, “It IS nothing You wouldn’t shut up about it, just because I didn’t say anything juicy when there is really NOTHING else to say!” It’s the same story all over again.  
  
She’s gay. She denies it, people kept insisting she still is gay.  
  
Camren. She denies it, people kept saying she’s hiding it.  
  
She comes out. People think’s it’s public stunt.  
  
She breaks up with her girlfriend.  
  
She dates someone else.  
  
She breaks up with her boyfriend.  
  
It doesn’t matter what the issue is. She says something, and people will ignore what she says because it’s not what they want to hear.  
  
“Okay… What crawled up in your ass and died?” Dinah murmurs as she backs away slowly.  
  
She wouldn’t wish her misfortune on her bandmates. No. Never. But she wishes people would stop focusing on her and attacking her just because they have nothing to talk about.  
  
She sighs, “We were talking. Nothing of significance. Until she asked to take a picture. Because we found it funny that we run across each other at events but never spoken more than one or two words to each other. And then I told her I looked like a potato. Because I was surrounded with skinny attractive people. And I don’t know… I felt… it felt like it. And then she said that it wasn’t the case. We took a picture. That’s it.”  
  
Unspoken apology.  
  
Dinah just giggles and pinches Lauren’s cheeks. “Now is that so hard to say?”  
  
Lauren sighs in relief but quickly pushes Dinah away, but to no avail, Dinah was stuck with her. “Ally!!!”  
  
When all else fail, call for Ally.  
  
Ally on a distance just sighs and massages her temple, “Lord Almighty, what did I ever do to be stuck with these kids?”

  
They were on Carpool Karaoke, /finally. /And they were jamming to their  
 songs, from Work From Home to Me and My Girls.  
  
He asked about Kendall. ‘Cause it would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to ask to. “So you looked like a potato… I don’t… I don’t understand?”  
  
Lauren looks out the window as she hums to, ‘Don’t Say You Love Me’ softly, before answering, “It’s an expression.”  
  
“I know… but I… what do you even see in the mirror? _I_ look like a potato. I mean, I’m a cute potato. You on the otherhand... _You’re_ —”  
  
“—a hot potato” Dinah finishes, then Ally and Normani joins her laughing.  
  
Somewhat, she’s thankful Dinah’s coming to her aid. She just doesn’t understand the deal with this.  
  
Without thinking, Lauren says, “Well we could be potatoes together, if you want.”  
  
Silence.  
  
James gasps, and cries, “Lauren Jauregui, stop flirting with me!”  
  
The car erupted with laughter.  
  
There wasn’t any awkward moment on the whole trip.  
  
They talked about other songs they like.  
  
Places they’d like to visit more.  
  
The funny story on Normani and her cream pie.  
  
Dinah _driving_. (Because apparently, when James asked who was the worst driver, and they all said probably Dinah, and Dinah, of course, denied it. So to finally prove this accusation wrong, James decided to let Dinah drive)  
  
It was okay.  
  
They’re surviving, even though Dinah occasionally speeds up with no apparent reason. Or comes too close to other cars. Or casually takes her eyes off the road to join in on conversations. And Lauren had to grip her seatbelt.  
  
When you ask Lauren what would her expectations be in Carpool Karaoke, she DID NOT envision this.  
  
The topic of _the_ bet comes, and Lauren doesn’t know how on Earth it came to that.  
  
She doesn’t remember who mentioned it, but Ally and Normani were sandwiching James at the back of the car, which to Lauren actually looked like an angel and a devil whispering things to him, and then the topic just came up.

“Wait, so how much money are we talking about?” Normani whispers to James, and Lauren rolls her eyes at the dramatics. It’s only a hundred bucks per person.

* * *

_So they were consoling Lauren, after her break up. And Dinah, to make things lightly said that Lauren is a champ and she’d definitely be back up her game a few months later._  
  
_Normani, probably, with a bit of alcohol in her system, or just humoring Dinah said they should bet on it._  
  
_And so they did._  
  
_Normani said, she’d date in 4 months…_ which is about now, so probably  
 why she even mentioned it… forgetting that they’re on camera. She just hopes they cut this out.  
  
_Dinah, doubles Normani’s bet, and said, it’ll take at least 8 months, because they’d be going on tour soon._  
  
_And Ally supports Lauren’s claim, that Lauren would at least be single for a year._  
  
_And it was all fun and games… until the next day, Dinah did not forget. Because she wasn’t drunk._  
  
_And then Dinah was telling their friends because she finds it funny._  
  
_Every time Dinah mentions how Lauren vows she’d be single for a year, they ALL laugh, in which Lauren frowns._  
  
_On the next rehearsal, Dinah tells Sean, who in return places his bet_  
_to 6 months. Later that day, their manager, lawyer, driver, stylist were already on the roll._  
  
_“Why don’t you just tweet about it? Lauren says sarcastically as she drags Dinah away from their crew before she can even open her mouth._

* * *

Lauren cuts the conversation, thinking if she can't get out of it, she might as well control it, “You guys, when I win—”  
  
“if!”  
  
Lauren ignored Normani and continues, “WHEN I win, I will take all your coins, take Ally out, we’ll have so much fun you all would be jealous!”  
  
Normani and Dinah snorts while simultaneously saying, “Okay, Lauren.”  
  
“Oh please. When I win, you will never hear the end of it.” Dinah adds  
  
James joins in, “Okay I wanna say, in 9 months. But how do I know when somebody wins?”  
  
“Oh you’ll know. Girl can’t keep it a secret when she’s dating someone.”  
  
If Dinah wasn’t on the steering wheel, Lauren’d definitely slap her in the face.  
  


* * *

 

“Wow. I’m gonna pretend you did not sound so repulsed by the idea of dating me.”  
  
They’re hanging out at Lauren’s place.  
  
Which isn’t weird.  
  
Because now, they’re sort of friends?  
  
And they went out to have lunch that one time when they’re both in LA.  
  
And there were paparazzi everywhere, and Lauren is convinced they have a tracker on Kendall. So now, she’s more cautious hanging out with her.  
  
And now they’re stuck at her place because she doesn’t want people making up stories about them, based on pictures of them.  
  
Because Kendall is actually sweet, and fun to be with. And yeah, she’s kinda cool, so Lauren doesn’t really mind the new company.  
  
But she does mind the shippers threatening to harass her every time they hang out together.  
  
Not when people knew she’s for sure single and her friends bet on when she’ll be dating again. Not when it’s creating a buzz so their team is encouraging it. Not when drama follows Kendall five times than it follows her.  
  
Lauren just laughs as she takes a picture of Kendall and Leo playing on her couch. She learns that Kendall is really great with dogs, and she’s teaching Leo how to play fetch. “It’s not that. It’s just that people tend to make a big deal out of nothing. It’s like I can’t be just friends with anyone.”  
  
“I know. There was a point, people thought I was dating this dude I don’t even talk to.” Kendall said as she throws the ball. She smiles when Leo goes after it, but frowns when he didn’t pick up the ball but just lies next to it.  
  
“Yeah, and girls count on me too. Aftermath of coming out.” Lauren can laugh at it now. She watches as Kendall waves the treat she brought in front of Leo. Leo looks up to it, tilting his head. He’s so cute, Lauren’s heart is melting.  
  
“Don’t I know it? People thinks I’m gay just because I’m tomboy. Or that I spend too much time with my girlfriends. Or any other things I just choose to ignore. That every time I got out with someone, people say it’s actually to beard.” Slowly Leo grabs the ball and put it in front of Kendall. At this Kendall pumps her hands to the air and gives the treat to Leo.  
  
“Well, what’s hotter than two attractive girls making out, right?” Lauren says casually as she scrolls through her phone. She laughs softly at the snapchat of her friends back at Miami. God, she misses them.  
  
Before Lauren knows what’s happening, she feels Kendall’s lips on her cheeks. She looks at Kendall in confusion, “Wha–?”  
  
Kendall takes a quick snap of her kissing Lauren’s cheek, while Lauren smiles at her phone, then slowly looking up. She laughs as she types in, ‘petition for a potato emoji’, then adding it to her story.  
  
“What’s the worse that can happen, right?”  
  
Lauren contemplates on answering.  
  
Well there’s queerbaiting.  
  
And people thinking their cooking something.  
  
But Leo probably just learned how to play fetch.  
  
_Fuck it._  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> visit me at d0vvntherabbithole.tumblr.com


	3. 3 - Kenren rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenren, or Kendall and Lauren, starts to create more buzz. Lauren continues to say the relationship is pure platonic.

> 'Kenren is so fucking on!'
> 
> 'I knew it. Kendall’s gay.'
> 
> 'Lol. Now we know Kendall’s type is ‘Lauren’.'
> 
> 'This is so obviously PR for Lauren’s solo career. This is 5h last era.'
> 
> 'THE REACH. What do you think Lauren can offer that will make Kendall do charity PR for her?? She’s barely a somebody.'
> 
> 'Lol. Yes. I guess people don’t know who Fifth Harmony is. Who had 3 1 bil + views mv’s.'
> 
> 'Exactly. GP knows who 5H is, not Lauren Jauregui. Desperation is real.'
> 
> 'What can Lauren offer? I’m idk?? The LGBT COMMUNITYYY?'
> 
> 'Sis, it’ll only work if Kendall is planning to come out some time in the future (if she is even gay or if PMK will allow it). Otherwise, the LGBTQ+ will burn LJ alive for queerbaiting.'
> 
> 'Stop acting like this will actually do good than harm. Kendall is so messy. If you love your fav, you keep her safe somewhere far away from Kendull lol.'
> 
> 'Why would they even hangout, do they even know each other??'
> 
> 'Sis, did you miss when they were hanging out at the Gigi x Tommy afterparty or??'
> 
> 'You'd think, after dating a weird college girl then jar jar, Lauren would have learned by now. I guess the poor girl will always have a tragic choice in relationships.'
> 
> ‘What did Lauren ever do to any of you to think she can’t have real friends in this fucked up industry?’
> 
> ‘FUCKING STUPID MORONS TALKING ABOUT PR THEORIES AGAIN!!’
> 
> ‘L stans fooling themselves again just bec their fav is linked to another girl. Get the girl another fanbase.’

* * *

 

“You know it wouldn’t affect you if you won’t read any of that thing.” Normani's voice made her jump that she almost lets go of her phone. Once she composed herself, she started ranting...

“We spent hours and hours of rehearsals, me doing cardios and eating protein bars so I can deliver some hard-ass choreos maybe just half as good as you, and you know what people focus on? A 3 second snap of me and Kendall hanging out! Like what the fuck?? Maybe I’ll just post selfies again and like put a link of our single, and be like, ‘Hey. Keep us number 1 on the charts for more selfies!”

“…”

After a few minute of silence, and her bandmates turning their attention to her, they started bombarding her with humorous suggestions. “You know, that might actually work.”

Lauren quickly closes her mouth and stares in disbelief at Dinah. “Shut up Dinah”, she says weakly.

“I was backing you up!!” Dinah stands up excitedly and walks towards her. Lauren widens her eyes and slowly sinks back to the couch hoping the taller girl won't come any closer. “Clearly, I was joking!” Last time Dinah had the look on her face, she practically told everyone about that bet, that later on, the whole world knew about too. Nope. Lauren had had enough of her crazy ideas.

“Well I wasn’t! We could be like, ‘buy our album, send us receipts, and I’ll follow you’” Dinah says laughing.

Lauren laughs at the incredulous idea, but stops when Ally joins in. _Ally_ , of all people. “M&G slots with chances of buying multiple album.”

Before Lauren can respond, Normani adds in, “Tour tickets with an exclusive merchandise.”

“Are we getting desperate? Guys, we're selling, what are you--" Lauren tried but was quickly cut off by Dinah's booing.

“Lauren stop sucking the fun out of everything.”

“I’m not—"

* * *

She knows it's childish and probably meaningless -- ignoring Kendall and preventing herself from texting the girl, because no one would know about it, but she finds herself leaning away from the other girl to subside the rumors. She's not ready for some drama. She wants to focus on the group and the other projects she has on. She's actually finding it hard to act 'casual' when inevitably asked about her 'friendship' with Kendall.

_They were touring in Nottingham, and they were actually having fun with this radio station they were in. They played a little game of continuing each other's sentence, and she had the mistake of sitting next to Dinah, so she knew she was in for a treat._

_Nevertheless, she survived without embarrassing herself more. They were talking about a hypothetical reality show, Big Brother, that they could be in and the other celebrities they'd like to live in, until a fan out of nowhere shouted a big and loud, KENDALL JENNER._

_Of course the fan girls couldn't contain themselves no more and started squealing, and Dinah had the audacity to nudge her. Like it's a goddamn inside joke._

_Lauren shot her a look as if saying, 'What even?'_

_The interviewer pretty much grins like he's just done his job without actually doing anything, and then asked her, 'Lauren, what about Kendall? Do you think you two can get a long in the same house in 1 month?'_

_Lauren briefly glanced at the camera, cursing inwardly at how this will forever be in the internet, before turning to the interviewer, forcing out a smile. "Of course. We're friends. We'll have so much fun." She says, trying to be casual, but all she can think about is how she can punch this dude without getting arrested, and preferably without it being caught on camera. The other interviewer, the blonde girl with the thick English accent looked clueless, or Lauren hope she is or else she's planning to slap her too after this, asked, how they became friends._

_Dinah answered for her, acting like they're buddies now. 'Girl, have you missed the whole hot potato fiasco?'_

Oh, right. _She'll slap Dinah next._ Gahd, _Lauren never considered violence as the answer in resolving problems but she's greatly considering it now._

_She glanced at Ally, who was quietly snickering at her side, and shot her a pleading look._

 

 _Of course even with Ally's help, all attempts were futile when Normani decided to join the dark side, and ganged up on her too_.

Obviously she stayed away from Twitter. She only opened her IG to post a picture of their stay in England, thanking their fans and closed her phone immediately.

* * *

They're eating dinner at a lowkey restaurant, which is an achievement for Lauren, and had congratulated her bandmates, especially Dinah, for not posting anything so they can sneak out.

_'Well no one can be a ninja like you!' Dinah exclaims as she applies her make up, all girls preparing for a night out in Nottingham, their second stop in their European tour._

_'Dinah, they wouldn't know where we are if they don't have clues. They won't have clues if you won't post anything!' Lauren says as she continues to reply to her messages. She's always the first one to get ready because she rarely does anything to herself when they're going out._

_'Why do you always assume it's me? Our fans can know where we are even if we don't post anything. You should know how techy they can be.' Dinah remarks. Subtly, but not really, hinting Lauren, and literally anyone associated with her, getting hacked, and violated._

Funny _. Lauren thinks sarcastically. 'You're lucky I love you.'_

_'I know I've always been your favorite'_

_Hey! Let's not assume things. But for the record, I've always been Lauren's favorite.' Normani counters Dinah._

_Ally snorts as she plops down across Lauren, also finishes getting ready, 'Yeah, dream on girls. Alren for the win!'_

It was all great until Dinah speaks up and says, "Well, lucky for you, you don't have to worry about the whole Kenren thing--"

"I'm not worried. I haven't even thought about it until you inevitably mention it..." Lauren says as she takes a sip on her drink, adding softly, "every single time"

Dinah continues, "--since Kendall's seems to already have it handled." Dinah shows her phone, and Normani and Lauren see a tabloid headline(?) of pap photos of Kendall with her friends on a night out in LA, with Kendall standing close with this other dude that Lauren has never heard of. She rolls her eyes because Kendall did say that it gets worse for her, once a picture of her with literally anyone in a frame, was sold to any magazine, a headline would automatically generate something weird story like this.

"That's probably someone she's never gonna see anyway, or friends. They're probably just friends."

"Sounds like someone is jealous"

"Why would I be jealous? One. It's total bullshit. Two. It's freaking tabloid. Like who cares? Three. Hypothetically speaking, even if they are dating, which I highly doubt, I couldn't care less because there's nothing to be jealous of." Lauren moves her hand wildly to make a point, but it barely helped.

"You've never been that pressed unless it's a social issue. Wow, Lauren. You sure you really couldn't care less? I hate to imagine what you'd do if you actually care" Normani teases as she puts some fries in her mouth. Nothing she enjoys more than messing with Lauren on a late night. She knew Lauren had enough drinks and it's been a long time since they made fun of her. And by long time, she meant, like 20 minutes ago.

Lauren groans in frustration. Is it too much to ask to never talk about her and Kendall's nonexistent non-platonic relationship? She's friends with her... Barely friends at that, and people, including her friends expect her to come up with some exciting story to tell about it.

"Is she bi?"

Lauren glares at Normani for even asking.

Normani shrugs and said, "hey! No one had the guts to ask outright."

When Lauren silently shakes her head, Normani continues, "Okay, Dinah can make fun of this whole Kenren thing as long as she likes, and we all know you'll never be mad at her for something that harmless and petty. But I'm just saying, none of this will stick if there's no chance of it being true."

After contemplating over Normani's words, and with Ally and Dinah staring at her expectantly, she stutters, "No... She's straight."

"But how would you know?"

Lauren glares at Dinah. "I just do. I spend time with her. I know her."

Ally snorts and says, "yeah. You've hang with her twice!" Lauren looks at her in disbelief, while Dinah and Normani high-fives, "Welcome to the dark side, Allysin." Dinah said as she nudge Ally on the side.

Normani clears her throat and leans to Lauren, "Okay jokes aside, I'm just saying. People don't just ship you just because you're two girls who look attractively good together. Or aside from that hot potato thing.--"

"among other things"

"--I'm just saying, you're bi. And like a lot of people thinks Kendall is too. So you know. it's not just straight girls shipping."

Ally asks, "wait, how do you know what people think of Kendall?"

Normani says, "Lisa told me."

"Our _make up artist_ told you?"

"Dinah this is your fault. If you haven't pretty much told everyone about that stupid bet, they wouldn't--"

In which Dinah replies, "So you admit it? That there's a possibility of you two dating?"

"For the nth time, there's nothing to admit! She's straight as fuck! And even if she is, which is ridiculous and beyond me, we'll never date. I'm not her type. She's not my type. End of story"

Dinah looks at her and quips, "You know what Justin Bieber said..."

Lauren deadpans, "Sorry?"

"Never say never."

Lauren groans, "Oh God."

* * *

Lauren plops down her hotel bed and covers herself with the comforter as she grabs her phone to check her messages. She promises she'll relax because she has an early wake up call tomorrow, but she couldn't resist it.

She notices a message notification from Kendall and she hesitates if she would open it, following the little conversation they had at dinner. She realizes she's being childish and her friendship with Kendall shouldn't suffer just because rumors and talks can easily get under Lauren's nerves. To be honest, the idea of sneaking out, was Kendall's idea in the first place. She's been here twice and she had suggested Lauren places to go if they had the time to explore.

 **Kenny:** You still awake?

 **Lauren:** Nope. I'm sleep texting

 **Kenny:** Oh this should be fun.

Lauren looks at the clock and it says, 1:43am. She contemplates whether she should play this game with Kendall, but decided against it. She's tired.

 **Lauren:** Screw it. I'm about to go to bed. What time is it there?

 **Kenny:** Thought so. I'm 8 hours behind you.

 **Lauren:** Where are you?

 **Kenny:** At home

 **Lauren:** It's Friday night. You're not out?

 **Kenny:** Can't really go out when I promised my fav potato, I'd sit her dog.

Then she receives series of pictures: of Kendall and Leo sleeping (?), of Leo with a ball in his mouth and a text 'he mastered the art of fetch! I'm the best teacher!!', of the two of them facing the camera, and one with the dog filter.

Lauren smiles and can't help but chuckle at how cute they are. Before Lauren leaves for tour, Kendall had asked who she leaves Leo with when she's gone. Lauren said that her friends take turns on who sits him, because luckily, all of them are fond of him. So Kendall had asked if it was okay for her to sit him too. After some back and forth of Lauren not wanting to impose, and Kendall guilt-tripping her by saying, 'he wouldn't even know how to fetch if it weren't for the great Kenny, the dog whisperer' - in which Lauren found incredulous and funny but still true, they had finally agreed to set a date in which Leo would temporarily be at Kendall's place.

Lauren replies with a bunch of emojis, raging from heart, heart-eyes, puppies, and so on.

 **Kenny:** Amazing to find someone who uses more emoji than me.

 **Lauren** : Shut up

Before Lauren can notice, she's suddenly not feeling tired as they talked for two hours.

She woke a few hours later with only 3 hours of sleep, and she's not even grumpy. She ignores how this feels quite familiar to her.

She definitely denies the idea of the late night conversation being the reason of her good mood today. She's done putting herself out there and getting her heart broken after. And more importantly, she vows never to fuck any friendship for a slight chance that it might work out in the end. Been there, done that, never coming back.

_This friendship with Kendall, has to stay as it is._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> visit me at d0vvntherabbithole.tumblr.com


	4. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren and Kendall finally spends the night together. A dinner, a movie, a bottle of champagne, and twenty questions later, they both find themselves knowing more from each other than they had hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys for loving it no matter how random and totally fictional this is! :)

Lauren gently hums as she adds a pinch of salt to the pan, already finishing up on the dinner she prepares for her and Kendall. The other girl, on the other hand, was left on Lauren’s small living room to fend for herself.

They were just texting three days ago, and knowing that they both have nothing to do on this day and they will both be in LA, they decided they should get together.

Lauren is convinced that the only safe place for them is inside her small apartment because regardless what some fans think, the media hasn’t picked up on this ‘friendship’ and paparazzi hasn’t been hounding her yet. So instead of risking it, eating outside on a great restaurant, or hanging out at Kendall’s place, she invites Kendall over. Hoping she doesn’t come off as disinterested in this plan, she tells Kendall she’d cook them dinner, which thankfully, Kendall was excited about.

Finally confident about her piece, she calls Kendall over as she finishes preparing the table.

She looks up to see Kendall smiling towards her, “Awww. You know you could’ve called me, and I could have set up the table since you cooked for us.”

Lauren shakes her head softly as she motions for Kendall to sit across her, “Come on. You’re my guest.”

Kendall clasps her hand in excitement, her eyes scanning the table. “My friends make me do the dishes when I come over.”

Lauren laughs at that, “Yeah no. Stop shitting me.”

“Hey, I know how to do the dishes!” Kendall exclaims as she takes her phone to take a photo of their food. “I’m gonna take a picture of this baby ‘cause it’s the first time you cooked for me.” Kendall then takes a picture of Lauren before the other girl can even protest. Lauren then notes, that Kendall really loves taking pictures.

“First time? Are you implying that there would be a second time?” Lauren teases as she waits till Kendall finishes picture taking so she can serve her their supper. She’s adamant on serving Kendall whatever she wants because she wanted to be the best host ever. It’s something she had learned from her mother growing up. Always  make the best impression as a host, make your guest feel at home. Though this is Kendall’s second time at her place, it’s better late than never.

“Depends, on how good this… what do you call this again?”

“It’s basically just an omelette of chorizo, potato and cheese. Nothing big, but I swear, it’s gonna blow your mind.” Lauren says as her eyes widen while talking, she’s pretty confident with her omelette skills… because really, it’s just egg with other things mixed on it, who can mess that up, right? Then she points to the other plate, “This is some honey garlic chicken.”

“Wow… all these for me?”

“--For us.” Lauren corrected. “What? You think I’m just gonna watch you eat?” Lauren finishes quietly, “After _the_ hours I spent to prepare for this night?”

Kendall laughs softly before she takes her first bite, ignoring the fact that Lauren is staring expectantly at her. True to Lauren’s words, the omelette _and_ the chicken did blow her mind away. She can eat whatever she wants so she did not hold back. “Are you sure you’re not a chef? ‘Cause this is really amazing.”

Kendall would’ve laughed if she hadn’t taken another bite when she sees Lauren _blush._

“Well, that’s me. I’m great at what I do.”

Kendall then didn’t hold back, “Wow. And here I thought you’d be humble about it.”

Lauren takes a sip of her drink then answers, “Hey, if you’re great at something, flaunt it, am I right?”

“Babe, one time, you’re oozing with self-love and confidence, then you’re drowning in self-pity the next.”

“Unfortunately, that’s also me.” Lauren says as she looks up to Kendall, “I don’t know. Sometimes I try to be really positive about myself. You know, that thing where you look at the mirror and you tell yourself you’re doing amazing sweetie…” They both laugh not missing the reference, “and like, tell myself I’m beautiful and talented and all that.” Lauren takes a break and notice that Kendall is actually listening to her, and she appreciates it. She likes it when people actually listen to what she has to say, no matter how trivial what she’s saying is. “But then, there are times that I feel like… I’m _not that_ attractive at all. And that I’m messy and problematic, or annoying even, and just… like wonder what people see in me? Or maybe _not_ see in me, since people tend to leave or betray me or whatever.”

She doesn’t know why she’s opening up to Kendall this way since they’re not that close yet. But it’s been a trait she has. To give herself to people around her that had warmed their way into her heart. Her defence mechanism acting up, as she quickly adds, “I guess it’s the Cancer in me. I’m emotional and sentimental but moody and insecure.”

She didn’t expect Kendall to reach for her hand, so she looks at her in confusion. She was met by Kendall’s kind eyes and smile, “Hey, I get it too. See, I think it’s why I like hanging out with you so much is that we connect in some levels I can’t even explain? Like, I totally get what you’re saying. Like we can tell ourselves that we’re beautiful and amazing just the way we are, and I try to live by that and tell others the same, but sometimes you feel insecure too, you know? Like you’re not good enough… Or that the reason why people hate you or says mean things about you is because maybe you’re really not the great of a person that you think you are.”

Lauren’s heart warms as she finds a common ground between them. At first she was afraid that there’s nothing really much to talk about other than their mutual love for dogs, or animals in general, but as she gets to know Kendall, she realizes that there’s so much more than meets the eye. “I guess we just have to prove them wrong day by day. As long as we know what we truly are, and keep on getting better, then other people can go fuck themselves, right?”

They both laugh at that and continue with their dinner.

* * *

Kendall was all prepared for their sleepover, bringing pajamas Lauren didn’t know she owned, -- a pair filled with cute baby dinosaurs all over. Kendall insisted that she wash the dishes since Lauren did all the work in their dinner. While Kendall was changing in the bathroom, Lauren then moves to her bedroom preparing the room for the upcoming movie marathon that they planned. She also prepares a bottle of Pinot Noir she got earlier as a gift from a fan. Yes, a fan.

Seeing as she had posted multiple times of when she was drinking, one of her fans thought that it’d be a great idea to send her some alcohol. She doesn’t even _know,_ how this had managed to go pass security, but all of the girls found it amusing, and Lauren could only count on three conclusions. One, the amount of money her fans dedicate on her and her gifts is _insane._ Two, her fans really pick up on things. And Three, (not really a conclusion) but what exactly is her reputation to her fans now?

Kendall comes into the room and Lauren invites her into the bed.

“Getting me drunk now, huh, Jauregui?” Kendall says as she puts her hand into her hip, which Lauren finds not intimidating at all since she’s already in her pajamas. “Imagine what people would think when we post one photo of this evening. Your fans would go crazy.”

“Oh, _my_ fans? Putting the blame on my chickens alone is just—”

“Chickens? _What?”_

“I call my fans chickens sometimes.” Lauren shrugs as she starts with her drink.

Kendall stares at her for a moment, then slowly crawls onto the bed next to her. “So what are we watching?” Kendall asks as she settles in next to Lauren.

“Me Before You, ‘cause I’m obsessed with Emilia Clarke.” Lauren said excitedly. She figured she’s probably just gonna play it safe with some romantic movies than play her usual genres. “Well not really her, but her character on Game of Thrones.”

Upon hearing that, Kendall looks up from her phone, “I don’t understand why people are so hooked up on that show!”

Lauren looks at her in disbelief and said, “ _Because!_ It’s literally the best show ever! It has a political spin off. It’s like a medieval show! It has dragons. And it has a good amount of butts and boobs on screen.” She hears Kendall laugh at the last one, and then she continues not without a smirk playing on her face, “We should watch it next time.”

“We should. I’ll bring the box set. Or you know, we could hang out at my place next.”

“How do you have a box set?”

“I don’t. Khloe has. She had joined the bandwagon at one point and decided to caught up to it with Kylie.” Before they can continue on the subject, she grabs the bottle from Lauren to pour her own glass and was surprised when she noticed the name, “Holy shit. You _really_ are trying to get me drunk. This is only the third date!”

“ _Exactly._ By now, we should have already been hooking up. Oh wait, look at that. Who’s right next to me _in my bed?_ I’m pretty sure we’re in the right path.” Lauren says, trying to sound pretty confident with herself, sipping suave on her glass.

Kendall chuckles. She puts down her glass at the side table, quickly removing her bra under her shirt and pulling it in one go, ignoring Lauren’s, “Kendall, what _are you doing?”_   Throwing it somewhere towards the floor as she tries to smile flirtingly at Lauren. Leaning in she says, “Well, right path.”

They both laugh at this new improvement between them and settles in.

When Kendall was comfortable, she sips one more time and moans, “God, this is so good. Are you sure it’s okay to waste this on just a sleepover with us two? Or do you do this to all of your friends? If so, we're gonna be BFF’s from now on.”

“A fan gave it to me.” Lauren says, smirking, gauging Kendall’s reaction.

“Are you for real? This shit is expensive for sure. It tastes so amazing.” Kendall says as she drinks some more.

Lauren laughs lightly, “I know, right? I kinda feel bad. Because all I can do is like, post it on my Instagram story and tag this girl who gave it me, _Kirsten._ And that’s literally all I could do. And I kinda feel like it’s not enough, you know what I mean? I just wanna give back more.”

“Your _chickens_ are awesome.” Kendall says in response, “But hey, if they’re giving you these stuff, then you’re clearly doing something right. I mean look at this.” She reaches for Nala but Lauren quickly snatches it away.

“Hey! Nala is off limits! The sex should have been good before I let you touch this baby.”

Kendall laughs, “Oh God. This hooking up joke is gonna be our thing now, isn’t it?” Lauren shrugs as she plays the movie.

Lauren figures, fuck this Kenren thing. They’re friends. And they could do some harmless flirting as long as it’s just them. So maybe she lets it go when Kendall Snapchats the bottle of wine. And maybe not overthink whether fans would connect two and two together. It’s like Normani has said, it’s not gonna be awkward if she doesn’t let it.

* * *

They’re in the middle of the movie when Kendall asks, "What sports do you play?"

Lauren thinks for a minute then says, "Uhmm... I used to play softball?"

"Uh-huh... What else?"

Lauren tries to remember, "I'm not really athletic, but I think I had tried as many sports as I can. My PE class had made sure of that."

Lauren turns to Kendall and returns the question, "I know there's this joke going around that it runs in the Jenner blood that you're athletic and adventurous, so where are you good at?"

"Ehhh... I like sports in general. I love skiing, I love running, tennis, horse-riding. Golf. Racing... And I love basketball--" The more Kendall lists of things she's good at, the more Lauren wonders how could anyone think this girl is boring.

"I'm pretty good at tennis."Lauren tries to pipe in. She stopped being athletic every since she started in the band. It's just something she had lost touch in.

"We should play some time. I haven't played in ages. Oh, I know!" Kendall sits up, excitement showing off on her features, "We should write things we like to do, and then like, teach other stuff we don't know. Like do, what the other is into, you know what I mean? Like I'm into sports, so I'll teach you that. And you're great in anything art-related."

It's at the tip of Lauren's tongue but she doesn't say it. _Great. That's technically like, dating._

 _"_ And we could totally make a game out of it. Since we're both competitive." Lauren said instead.

She didn't expect Kendall to ride on it too, "Sure. I'm on. I'm so gonna kick you ass, Jauregui."

"Huh. You clearly had a great start with your genes and all,  _Jenner. B_ ut I'm totally gonna be a pain in your ass. I'm competitive as fuck."

"Whatever you say, _potato._ Whatever you say."

* * *

 

“What was it like being a model?”

“Weren’t you friends with models too?”

Lauren looks at her pointedly, not without rolling her eyes, “Kendall… You’re a high-fashion model. It’s _not_ the same. So…”

 “Actually, sometimes it kinda is. Because being a model—”

“Okay” Lauren exasperates. She doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol, or Kendall’s just being… Instead, she continues, “I’m just asking, because all my friends who models for simple ads, or anything is just doing that as a _hobby._ Clearly, you have made a _career_ out of it.”

There were silent, just letting the light sound of the movie play in the background.

“Well… I don’t really know how to explain.”

Lauren looks at her, and tilts her head, regretting it already because it sent a spike on her head. Damn, is she that tipsy already? “Have you always wanted to be a model? Or… does Kim being on the business influenced you?”

At this Kendall realizes they don’t really know each other yet. Lauren’s questions made sense. Something she learns about Lauren, is she never makes these small talks just for the sake of having it. The more Lauren wants to be listened to, the more the green-eyed girl listens. So instead of brushing it off or being casual about it, she replies honestly, “I remember wanting it when I was a kid. I remember looking at pictures of models, and thinking I wanted to be like _them._ I don’t know how it started. I don’t even remember understanding it that well by then. It’s like I just _know_ it’s what I wanted to do.” Kendall bits her lip before she slowly turns her eyes back to the TV. She realizes the way Lauren looks at her feels too intimate – or maybe it’s the alcohol.

“Have you always wanted to be a singer?” Kendall asks, hoping Lauren’s gaze will falter. _Damn those green eyes._

She hears Lauren chuckle at this and on her peripheral vision, sees that Lauren has reached out to the bottle at the side table, breaking the intense gaze she had on her. “God, _no._ ”

This piques Kendall’s interest so she turns her body to Lauren, now looking at her expectantly.

After pouring Kendall’s and her glasses, she continues, “We weren’t rich. I was raised from a very strict and practical family. I was an overachiever in high school. Pretty much, I started out thinking I should get a sensible job.”

“A _sensible_ job? How much have you earned for the past year alone? How much do you think your classmates in high school earns now?”

“If you knew how fucking rich some of them are, I’d say they’re doing pretty good.” After earning a hard glare from Kendall, Lauren continues, “Well that aside, I didn’t start thinking that I could be a singer. Singing was _a dream_. A talent, for sure, but not something I thought I would have a career on.  So you know, I was leaning more to a _plan._ Not exactly running towards my dreams or whatever.”

“So what changed?”

“It’s stupid.”

“Hey, I wanna know. Come on.” Kendall nudges Lauren, now completely turning all her attention towards her.

Risking it, Lauren looks back at Kendall, who was waiting on her explanation. Lauren figures she should just change the topic, but then _this_ is her thing. The late night talks and the deep conversations.  Taking a deep breath, she says “Reality shows had just been a hit back then.” Lauren started. “I mean, American Idol was a success. And One Direction was a hit for sure. So suddenly, singing wasn’t just a dream. Like, I could be successful on that. So I followed Simon Cowell. And then the rest was history.”

A moment of silence, then Kendall follows, “Huh…”

“What? Wasn’t what you expected?” Lauren says as she turns her attention back to the movie. She’s suddenly feeling a little hot, and she hopes to God, she’s not near anywhere to the point of embarrassing herself, because she can at least admit she’s getting drunk. Whose idea was it to hit that bottle? _This is why your ‘chickens’ think you’re an alcoholic, you moron._ Lauren thinks to herself.

They had reached the part of the movie where Sam’s character, Will had attempted suicide before and had set his mind to commit ‘assisted suicide’ in 6 months time because he couldn’t accept his new life as a disabled person.

“So would you wanna kill yourself if your face gets ruined?” Lauren blurts out, desperate in changing the topic. If she was sober, she could have probably had thought of a better game changer.

Kendall chokes on her drink, “ _What?”_

Lauren points to the movie, hoping it will explain her not-so-sudden outburst. Seeing as Kendall still looked clueless, she adds, “I don’t think I can ever justify suicide…. But in this case… He clearly had lost all hope. Being _active was_ his life. And he can’t do that anymore ‘cause his legs won’t work. So like… if… whatever makes yourself _you,_ is taken away from you… And you can’t live your life the way it was, would you? Kill yourself?”

“I don’t think I ever considered suicide.” Kendall says plainly. “Like… Isn’t _death_ so final?”

Lauren stays silent pondering on Kendall’s answer. She agrees with her, but as she stares at the TV screen, she starts to think, death _is_ final. It’s when you lost all hope, and you just want it all to end. It’s when you’re not even scared of it anymore, because you find that living is worse than death. She sighs biting on her lip, clearly focused on the TV hoping it’ll get her some clarification.

It’s when she hears Kendall that distracts her from her thoughts. “Wow. You know, if this was with other people. They would’ve just focused on the romantic drama of it all, or how cute Sam Claflin is.”

Lauren looks back at her in question.

Kendall answers her softly, “Yet you’re focusing on _death_ -“

“Damn. Did I just say those things out loud? I’m sorry. I’m probably way past my limit.” Lauren quickly apologizes setting down her glass.

Kendall shakes her head sitting up. “No, no! I like it! It’s different! _You’re different._ ”

Lauren is not even sure if that’s a good thing.

Kendall continues the conversation, now looking a little more excited. “How about you? If you lose your voice?”

“As in I damaged my voice, or like I can’t speak?”

“Let’s go with you can’t speak.”

“ _Damn. That’ll hurt.”_ Lauren’s shoulders slumps down at the possibility of never speaking again. That’s gonna frustrate her for sure. “Oh _fuck._ That’s _horrible!_ ” Lauren cries as she imagines herself having all these ideas to herself and not even saying anything about it! Having to say goodbye to singing and all those unspoken lyrics, forever unheard! And she won’t be able to call anyone anymore. And have late night conversations. And--

“If this is you losing your voice… I can totally see your internal breakdown. You look like your about to cry.” Kendall says laughing, clearly amused by Lauren’s reaction.

Lauren’s eyebrows furrows, and she really did look like she’s about to cry. She’s not sure why she’s keeping quiet about it but just the _thought…_

“Because _it’s_ terrifying! I _can’t_ lose my voice!!” Series of unfortunate events runs through her mind…

Kendall insists, “But _what if!_ ”

“I hate what if’s! That’s _literally_ you breaking your heart about something that would probably never even happen! The thought consumes you, and then you get anxiety over it!” Lauren exasperates, putting her hand on her forehead, clearly frustrated at the situation – in which Kendall finds hilarious, because apparently, Lauren looks _cute_ when she’s frustrated. Her face turns red and her accent comes out.

“Stop laughing! How can you laugh at someone’s distress? Can you be a little compassionate?” Lauren says, pouting, slightly hitting Kendall to stop her from laughing.

Kendall, after a good laugh, finally notices that Lauren already had watery eyes, so she clears her throat, but not completely wiping the smile off her face, puts a comforting hand on Lauren. “I’m sorry.” She scoots near Lauren, now embracing her, putting her hand on her head patting it gently, while her other hand wraps around the singer’s body. “It’s gonna suck, if you lose our voice. Not just ‘cause you’re a singer, but ‘cause you have these ideas. And I kinda want to hear them from you. And… okay, _maybe_ I like your voice too.”

“My singing voice?”

“Hmmm. Yeah. And your talking voice too.”

They were like that for awhile… Bodies flushed against each other, with Lauren finally relaxing to Kendall’s embrace. Kendall would’ve found it weird that she’s finally being affectionate to people all of a sudden, only if the whole thing wasn’t already weird. And Lauren would’ve been cautious on how intimate they were being, if she wasn’t calming down from her little internal breakdown.

“Would you sing for me?”

“Hmm. I don’t know. You were mean to me just a while back.”

“Come on, I’m comforting you right now.”

* * *

 

“So what is it like, being with a girl?”

After crying for real this time, when Will died in the movie, and ranting at how Lauren has invested herself in the movie, only for the character to die and break her heart, they are now playing twenty questions – or at least it started out as that. Seeing as they are now drunk off their asses, they don’t even know what number they are in.

Lauren laughs in response, collecting the cards between them, and readying for another round of their game, “Kenny, this is as cliché as it gets. We’re definitely drunk. We’re on the bed. We just watched a fucking sappy movie in which I _cried._ Sorry to break it to you but this is _not_ the part where we make out in the end just so you can experiment.”

Kendall’s face twists in amusement. “Who said anything about making out?”

“You’re asking what it’s like to be with a girl! That’s _classic_ experimenting pick up line!”

“ _How_ the fuck is asking _that,_ me hinting that I wanna make out with you? I mean no offense, you’re probably a great kisser, but like… _how?”_

 “It’s hard to explain. Ask me again when we’re sober and I’ll have a better answer than _it’s just is!_ ” Lauren waves her hand, thinking it’s enough to prove a point.

“Babe, I just asked because it’s like, 2:43 in the morning” Kendall says as she looks at her phone, then turning back to her drinking partner. _Funny,_ the last time she touched her phone was when she put it on silent before they started the movie. “It’s when we talk about personal stuff and get to know each other.”

“But how did you even—”

Kendall chuckles and quickly stops Lauren, “Lauren, I know why fans are going crazy about us hanging out. I know about people thinking I’m gay. I know that you’re bi, and you had a girlfriend… I even know about that song with Halsey. And… just because it doesn’t bother me, doesn’t mean I _don’t_ know anything. I’ve been on this path with Cara before.”

Lauren bites her lips and tilts her head trying to figure Kendall out. She’s not so sure because she can’t trust her memories right now, but she remembers talking about their hobbies, their embarrassing stories caught on camera, their friends, their taste in music, the places they had been on, and so much more. Indeed, it’s the time to ask those hard-hitting personal questions. Lauren sighs then narrows her eyes, “have you been in love?”

“Maybe _”_

Lauren lets out a laugh at this and continues, “I just _don’t get_ how it’s the 21st century, and people still think that same sex relationship is an uncharted territory. For sure, being with a _woman_ is different than with a man. But sometimes I think, people are just afraid the answers will almost be the same as when we're talking about heterosexual relationships. _that,_ it''s not just about the _sex._ For future reference, don’t ask about how was it being with that gender, instead, ask how was it being with that _person.”_ Lauren’s tone wasn’t condescending. It was normal, too normal, like the one she used describing her hometown.

Kendall threads carefully, “So how was it? Being with your ex.”

Lauren’s never been really that open about it. About her past with Lucy. Regardless of the drama it brought to them both, she’s weary about sharing information about her relationship. Contemplating against it, she relents, “We started out as friends – best of friends. Then I felt different. Then I felt I wanted more.  Then it felt like I wanted to be _with her,_ so much that it just consumes me _._ Then it felt exciting and confusing and… terrifying… and electrifying at the same time?” Lauren smiles as she reminisces her time with her long-time friend. “It was different. _Good_ different. Not because she’s a girl, but because of _her,_ because of _us._ Everything was so fucking crazy with our lives, and just… with each other, it made sense, have you ever felt that? Then, everything was great until it wasn’t. Crazy thing is it ended just like my other relationship did – we started wanting different things.

I just think that maybe, if people starts treating same sex relationship as equal as heterosexual relationship, then people won’t find it so bizarre. Then, people might _just stop_ being afraid of being themselves. Then people won’t categorize you and define you based on your sexuality. Then people won’t _judge_ you for who you’re with. It’ll make the world a better place.”

“That’s really beautiful and I completely agree. Maybe my dad wouldn’t get half the shit she got when she transitioned.”

Lauren stops and suddenly remembers Caitlyn. She was about to apologize but she wasn’t sure what to be sorry about.

“I asked because I like hearing you talk, things that you’re passionate about or… I don’t know." Kendall laughs a little, playing with the edge of Lauren's pillow case, avoiding Lauren's gaze. "I guess I haven't really felt that yet. That... _exciting, confusing, terrifying and electrifying_ kinda love."

"Oh..." Lauren reaches in and holds Kendall, in which Kendall responds with looking back at Lauren, "Well, you'll find that. And you'll experience it and it'll be amazing. It'll be hard, and so fucking painful. But it'll be worth it." Lauren tries to send a reassuring smile on Kendall's way, which luckily, Kendall returns.

"You’re very different from everyone I’ve met, Lauren.”

Lauren doesn’t know if it’s the current state she’s in, or the compliment – or at least she considers it as one, that makes her feel like she’s gonna combust any minute. She smiles genuinely back at Kendall and says, “Well, you’re more than what I ever expected.”

Kendall waits, slowly raising her eyebrows.

Lauren laughs, trying to look anywhere but her, “I just realized you’re more than just the pretty face, the _high-fashion model,_ the name, the glamour, the headlines… We’re like from two different worlds, but we’re slowly meeting at the middle. It’s so… _fascinating.”_

Looking at each other, it’s like they were having a moment to themselves. Slowly, they smile at each other on sync.

“I totally agree.”

* * *

 

Bottle of champagne emptied and discarded on the table, cards thrown down the floor, lights were out, and they were both ready to go to sleep.

It’s almost morning, 4:36am, and they were both so tired and not, at the same time.

Safe to say, they enjoyed every second of their time together.

They were side to side, when Kendall turns to face Lauren and asks, “So, would you kiss me?”

Lauren snorts, still her eyes closed, and says, “Jesus, Kendall. Shut up and go to sleep.”

“What? It’s just a question!” Kendall defended. “Hypothetically, would you wanna?”

“Just because I’m bi and single doesn’t mean I’m gonna go around kissing girls. I'd let you know I'm fully capable of having a platonic relationship with straight girls in my life.” Lauren thinks of Alexa, Keana and Normani. Normani and her had flirted their way towards each other, and they had never even kissed once. And Keana? Keana was there when she was figuring herself out, and God knows how many times they had been high off their asses and they haven't kissed either. And Alexa! She's the first hot and beautiful, and kind and... -- Lauren is pouting and already counting on her fingers, the other straight girls she had surrounded herself that she didn't kiss. 

Kendall snickers and rolls her eyes, “ _God, Lauren._ Would it kill you to get straight to the point?”

“I’m Lauren Michelle Jauregui. I live by, “Why say three words when 50 would suffice?”

That earns a laugh from Kendall. _So true._

Unfortunately for Lauren, Kendall has not let go of the subject. Lauren has her eyes closed the whole time, but she can totally sense Kendall’s still looking at her. “If you ask me if I think you’re hot, I’d totally say ‘yes’ in a heartbeat.”

At this, Lauren finally opens her eyes and looks at Kendall glaring at her, “Sweetie, you asked me if I would kiss you. If you had asked me if I think you’re hot, I’d say yes too.” She softens her expressions and her lips slowly turns upward on a smirk, “but not on a heartbeat though. I wouldn’t wanna seem too eager.”

She receives a slight hit from Kendall. “So?” Kendall eventually resumes the conversation.

Lauren bites her lip, looking at Kendall, “Dude, let it go. I’m not gonna kiss you. You look straight as fuck it hurts.”

“Break me down gently, would you?” Kendall says, chuckling at Lauren’s negative response. “And how does—"

Seeing the humor, Lauren laughs, quickly putting a hand on Kendall’s arm, “Ask me again, when I’m sober, I can’t even think anymore.”

After another hit, Kendall leans in and kisses Lauren on the cheek. She lingers, still close to Lauren’s face. “Good night, my sweet potato. I really had a great time. We should do this again, some time.”

Lauren hums, as she maintains the eye-to-eye contact with Kendall, “I should think of a nickname for you too. This pet name is supposed to be a two-way street.”

Finally, leaning back to her position, Kendall puts the comforter near her face. “Hmmm. I’ll ask about that when we’re both sober. Speaking of… We’re gonna regret this when we wake up later in the afternoon, won’t we?” Kendall says massaging her temple, readying herself for the killer hangover she's about to have.

“The only think I might regret is passing the great opportunity of making out with the one and only Kendall Jenner.”

  _Lauren had asked Kendall later on, "Hey, love. Remember the first time you slept over at my place?"_

_"Uhmm... When we got so drunk?"_

_"Uh-huh... And you kept flirting with me?"_

_" **I** kept flirting with you?"_

_Laughing, Lauren continues, "Babe, you kept asking all these questions...--"_

_"Questions that you haven't explained to me until now how it made sense! And if you remember correctly... Everything back then looked like a  
_ date!"

_Thinking back, Lauren realizes that it really did look like a date. Stay-in dinner, a great conversation, a movie, a bottle of wine, jokes... Damn. And she didn't even know it. Upon realization, her eyes widen, "Wait... So back then... You were considering... dating me?"_

_Kendall shrugs, "I don't even know it at the time. I was just going with the flow."_

_"But you asked me to kiss you!"_

_"I asked if you would!! Totally not the same. That's like asking, 'if you would commit suicide', doesn't mean I'm asking you to kill yourself right then and there."_

_"You did **not** just compare kissing and killing yourself. That's just... That's so fucking mean." _

_"That's not even the point."_

_..._

_..._

_"Wait... so if I had said yes, would we have made out that night?"_

_Kendall laughs and comes closer to Lauren kissing her temple, tapping her nose, "You said it yourself. We were drunk, we were very comfortable on your bed, the mood was right--"_

_"But you're--"_

_Kendall laughs and breaks away from Lauren, "No, **you're** too 'chicken' to do anything. We could have had our first kiss there but..."  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He hee... I couldn't resist the last one. And I'm a little not sure with some parts, I feel like some of it still lacks somethign but I decided to fuck it and just post it.


	5. Kendall's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Kendall's birthday! Some Kenren text conversations. And bits of Laurinah!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something is wrong with ao3!! I tried updating it but the update cuts into half??  
> Anywayyy...  
> I hate dragging their non-celeb friends into the mix but it wouldn't be a femslash!Kendall fic if Lauren Perez isn't in it!

“@LaurenJauregui Do you watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians?”

Lauren has been told a million times, by possibly everyone she knows to stop lurking on Twitter so much. Or in social media, in general. She knows how mean and so rude everyone could be with the protection of anonymity of the internet. She knows what trolling is. And by all means, she is highly aware how some posts can easily get to her.

But, it’s where she can connect to strangers all the time. And it’s where she can find some random happiness. And honestly… no one can literally tell Lauren what not to do.

Also, in Lauren’s defense… she was just retweeting some chart data, and positive response on their new single. So it wasn’t her fault that she saw that ‘random’ tweet in her mentions. She was staring at the tweet a little longer than she had liked. Even ‘accidentally’ clicked on it. And she’s not even gonna lie that her fingers have been hovering to the keyboard for a while now without typing anything. She’s tempted to reply a simple ‘No.’. But one-word replies aren’t her thing. ‘No. Should I?’ She thinks. A little hope. _Don’t be a snob._ But then, she shakes her head. She can’t engage in things like this. If she had managed to not reply to any Kendall-related questions in the internet, regardless of the mentions she got when they hangout together, or the pictures and edits people tag her into in Instagram; she wouldn’t be baited by this. Shouldn’t. (After all the shit she gets at replying to haters getting under her skin? Yeah, no… No more.)

“Lauren! Lauren! Lauren!”

Lauren bites back a smile when she hears Dinah entering her room. Thank God for the distraction. She hears Ally and Normani arguing behind.

“Lauren, would you rather live on a cold-snowy place for the rest of your life or—”

“That’s a dumb question. She’d somewhere be tropical. She grew up in Miami!”

“Exactly! It’s why she’d want to have a change of sceneries—”

Lauren doesn’t know what’s happening but Dinah cuts the two girls off and says, “Ralph, are you in, or are you out?”

Lauren blinks back at her and says, “I’m gonna regret asking… but of what?”

Dinah stops in front of her and keeps her hand behind her back, completely ignoring the other two girls, with the other reaching for Lauren’s hand, but Lauren crosses her arms in front of her, while looking up. “Uh-ah. Nope. No time for questions, just actions. Are you in or out?”

Lauren raises her eyebrow at how her blonde bandmate looks right now. “Considering the last time you said that, you had called a pizza delivery guy, made ME pay for it, and declared, ‘Surprise! You now have 10-minutes to get to know each other. This is Dinah Jane’s Awesome Dating Game!’, I’m gonna say ‘No!’”

Dinah pulls out handkerchief she was hiding behind her back, grinning, and says, “Yeah. Well like always, I don’t care. You’re already in!!” She grabs Lauren and spins her around to put the blindfold on her eyes. She slaps Lauren’s hand when she would try to touch the blindfold. “Seriously Lauren. Would it kill you to say, ‘Yeah Dinah! Let’s do it!!’” Dinah says as she tries to imitate what an excited Lauren would sound like – or so she thought. “We’d have a much better moment right now.” Dinah ties the blindfold and taps Lauren’s shoulders. Lauren didn’t even had the energy in her to fight this because she knows her efforts will be futile.

“So remember the time I asked you what you’re allergic to?” Lauren opens her mouth, but Dinah beats her to it. “Yeah. Don’t worry. You won’t be eating any of that today.”

* * *

They were texting each other, almost regularly. And Kendall’s gotta admit that she considers Lauren as one of her really good friends now. In a short amount of time, Lauren has managed to sneak her way passed Kendall’s heart. They were talking about Kendall’s family trip in Ecuador, when Lauren sent a screenshot to her.

‘@LaurenJauregui Do you watch Keeping up with the Kardashians?’

 **Lauren Potato:** Should I?

 **Kendall:** NO

 **Lauren Potato:** I’m pretty sure somewhere in your contract is your obligation to promote it.

 **Kendall:** I think we’ll do just fine even without your view.

 **Lauren Potato:** Hmmm. Well you can’t stop me so

 **Kendall:** I swear if you do, You’d be a mash potato

 **Lauren Potato** : looking at where I can stream it now as we speak

“You guys have been texting a lot.” Hailey says, as she sits behind Kendall on the coach. Both just wrapped up their shoot.

“Look at this.” Kendall momentarily forgets their current conversation, instead she smiles as she scrolls up and shows her friend her conversation with Lauren. Lauren had just sent a picture of her with a baby earlier. “They had a morning show in New York, and she literally stopped on the street when she saw a lady and a baby.”

“Cute” Hailey commented as she clicks on the picture. She turns to Kendall when the taller girl continues to tell her about the singer’s apparent love of babies. She then takes note at how her friend is obviously entranced by her new-found friendship.

“So when are we meeting her?” Hailey asks. When Kendall looked confused so she continues, “Dude, you won’t stop talking about her. We gotta see if she’s as amazing as you paint her to be.”

Kendall chuckles at this and says, “We’re barely in the same city anymore.”

“Your birthday is coming up. She’d be there?”

“That’s perfect! Oohhh!! You’re gonna love her!”

Clearly not as much Kendall does

* * *

Lauren got a text from Kendall, inviting her to the model’s birthday party two weeks from now. She asks their handler if she is free that day and she learns that Ally has a show already scheduled and the girls all agreed to come and support.

So an hour later, she replies to Kendall.

 **Lauren:** Sorry, can’t :( but I do have a gift for you that I think you’d like ❤️

Lauren remembers some random fans hounding her on the model’s upcoming birthday.

 

 

> _‘Kendall’s birthday is around the corner. Who’s waiting for Lauren’s long ass post?’_
> 
> _'Doesn’t Ally have a show on that day?’_
> 
> _‘It’s Ally’s show. Lauren doesn’t have to be there’_
> 
> _‘Watch Kenren turn to Taymila 2.0’_
> 
>  

It’s why she knew the girl’s birthday is coming even a month away. So Lauren may have had time to look for a gift. She knew she couldn’t compete with what other people gives Kendall. That girl just got a Rolls Royce from a random stranger on her birthday. But Lauren has been told by her friends that she gives the best gifts.

She’s been through this all her life. Studying in a private school surrounded by rich kids, she’s always felt a little insecure when their birthdays are coming knowing she can’t buy anything her usual classmates can buy. Or host a big-bash birthday party of her own when it’s her turn. So she’s always made effort when it comes to their birthdays instead.

She’s sentimental. And her gift may not be at 5 figures, but she hopes Kendall would appreciate it. Just as she appreciates the friendship they have in a short amount of time.

 **Kenny:** You have a show? I have tons of single friends I can hook you up with!! Right.

So Kendall might have mentioned that she would like to introduce Lauren to her friends because they were talking about Lauren’s ‘Miami crew’ and Kendall said, that Lauren would definitely fit right in to her friends. Lauren will never admit but she had heard of Kendall’s ‘squad’ and she knows it’ll be like high school all over again.

 **Lauren:** Uh-huh. No thanks. I told you I’d be single for a year.

 **Lauren** : Ally does. And we’re all coming to support

 **Kenny:** Where? But can’t you swing by like even at midnight? The party’s probably just starting by then. You can bring them if you want.

 **Lauren:** I’m not sure, Ken. :( but i’ll mention it to them.

 **Kenny:** mmkay. :c miss you.

 **Lauren:** ❤️❤️ miss you too

And okay, maybe Lauren feels a little guilty for the relief she had when she knew she already has an excuse at the model’s birthday. As much as she enjoys Their conversations and little games, being friends with Kendall is giving her anxiety.

* * *

Three days later, Kendall tries not to be disappointed that Lauren isn’t coming to her birthday. She had been looking forward to it.

She gets a notification that she was send a photo from Lauren, and at first she thought it was the picture of her gift. Lauren had been teasing her about it all day. — or Kendall has been pestering Lauren about it all day, rather

When she opens it though, she didn’t expect to see a picture of a laptop with her younger self on it. She immediately recognized that it’s from the early seasons of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

She immediately replied to it.

 **Kendall:** YOU DID NOT

 **Lauren Potato:** OH YES I DEFINITELY DID.

She then got a series of pictures:

Of her younger self kicking Brody in the crotch.

of herself picking up dog’s poop

Of her wearing those awful color combinations. Whoever said those were cool must have been crazy

 **Kendall:** Oh God Stop

 **Lauren Potato:** I’m totally here for Khloe. I’m ctfu whenever she’s on. You’re ok

 **Kendall:** she’s the life of the show. Haha

 **Lauren Potato:** but you definitely get points for this. AWW

**Lauren Potato:** AND THIS IS GOLDEN. 'YES IT DOES. IT'S PAPER. OMG'

Kendall barely remembers this but based on what Lauren had sent her. It was that time where she’s asking her dad for some money, and her dad made her work for it by doing her chores. Her dad would pay her double the amount of what it usually costs to cut Kendall some slack.. In her defense, the dog walking has been great until she saw the opportunity of having someone else do it for her. She blames it on the entrepreneur skills she got from her mother. Of course, all good thins come to an end when her dad comes home early and caught the helper Kendall hired to the chores for her. As punishment for playing him, she has to pick up dog poop.

**Lauren Potato:** I didn't know this show is occasionally funny!

* * *

Few days later and it was Kendall's turn.

 **Kenny:** UHMMM WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THIS AT 14????

Lauren suddenly felt her heart beat stop and got nervous as she saw the picture. She looked very young and she was sure that was before X Factor. She stares at the picture, trying to remember where it was from. She clumsily types a reply and had to rewrite three times over because of her typos

 **Lauren** : …where TF did you get that?

 **Kenny:** people tag me in this

 **Kenny:** you guys did not even hit puberty, I cant even deal…

A sigh of relief came from Lauren’s mouth. She now remembers it’s the video Alexa made for her birthday. But that was what? A decade ago? How did people even… She shakes her head because clearly at this point, some 'fans' may as well be part of the fbi that can hack the shit out of her and everyone else just to get personal files like this.

 **Lauren** : uhmmmmm excuse me but didn’t you start modelling at 14?

 **Lauren:** AND STOP LOOKING AT PICTURES OF A 14 YR OLD ME!!

 **Lauren:** PS. Alexa clearly skipped puberty, while I had rabbit teeth and bushy eyebrows.

 **Kenny:** Hey, I told you to not watch the show and you still did…

 **Kenny:** WTF are you kidding? If someone had told you you were ugly back then, then their beauty standards must have been impossible to compete w. If we were standing side by side, people would have picked you, no doubt.

 **Lauren:** SIS, the 14 yr old you was on a reality show. Im sure you have no control over it, and im sorry, but those videos are like public record now. While the 14 yr old me is minding my own business.

 **Lauren:** I had ‘passing looks’ enough not to be bullied every single day. But I wasn’t a head-turner. And I grew up in Miami……...

 **Kenny:** yeah, sometimes I hate being part of it. It wasn’t certainly something I was proud to flaunt at at school, growing up. And how people w cameras and equipment are all over the house every single time, it kinda made me feel anxious.

 **Kenny:** and wdym?

 **Lauren:** oh shit. Then I really feel sorry. It must have been weird growing up on that. I remember we had this thing when we were just starting. Where this camera crew will follow us around all the time and try to make a story out of it, it made me feel weird, cos I felt like I should play a role when the camera is on? And I cant really be myself. I cant imagine living through that everyday

To be honest, it’s why Lauren doesn’t want to hangout at Kendall’s place. She feels like there’ll be hidden cameras in there. And it’s one thing to be seen at public with Kendall, one thing to hangout in private, and totally another if she’s seen on the show. Though she knows she wouldn’t be on the show without her knowing, she still feel anxious over it. She’s embarrassed to say this to Kendall so every time the taller girl would invite her, she would always come up with an excuse.

 **Lauren:** I love that place but lol, I wish it was all about who’s smart and pretty instead. But I told you I grew up w rich kids, and we werent rich. You know that novel The Clique? It was all about designer clothes and bags and luxury cars and who has the biggest house. I know you cant relate, but imagine not having that. Anyway, I was lucky enough to have friends that didn’t look at your financial statement to include me in their group.

 **Kenny:** YES. It’s exactly what I feel sometimes, it’s why I feel weird hanging around uor own house. Bec it’s where youre supposed to feel safe and be comfortable but I wasn’t?? Cos it made me conscious that it is being filmed and that it’ll forever be there. Or when sometimes we have to do things and say things?? And im like, why do I have to script my own private life?

 **Kenny:** dude, everyone had this impression that we were rich right from the start? We started off somewhere in the middle class too. Im not gonna lie and say we struggled, but we we werent this rich snobs, everyone painted us to be. And okay, maybe we werent the most approachable to the public either.. Regardless of how we had money, Kim really helped our family out. Its only by 2015/2016 that we really started buying things on our own.

 **Lauren:** you know what’s weird is that nobody told us how crazy this life would be I mean I love my job but I swear, if I had known any better, I would have chosen something else instead. I remember when fans would ask for an advice on ‘how to make it’ and i’d be like, are you sure you want this?? Like this doesn’t look as easy and as pretty as it does. Instead, I HAVE TO SAY, ‘oh wow. Follow your dreams. Just do what your heart wants.’ I gag a little in my mouth

 **Lauren:** It feels weird complaining about this because there are thousands of people who had it worse.... still have it worse

 **Kenny:** It's why I give back as much as I can. Cos sometimes it's the only way I can be comfortable with the privilege that I have now. You should come with us next time that we visit organizations and help.

 **Lauren:** TELL ME WHEN AND WHERE AND I'LL BE THERE.

* * *

 

They were laughing at something when Ally said, ‘are you staying the whole night?’

Lauren was confused at this and says, ‘uhm… yeah?! I’m definitely up for an after-party!’ In which she high-fived with Normani who then twerked a little after. The girls cheered.

‘Oh. I just thought you’d come to Kendall’s birthday', Ally says as she shrugs casually.

The girls were silent for awhile and it made Lauren feel uneasy. "Oh come on. I told you I'd be here for you!"

"And you were. I appreciate it. But it's fine--"

"Yeah. She invited me. And I told her I'm unavailable 'cause I wanted to spend the night with you guys."

One of the main reason Lauren didn't want to attend Kendall's party is the talk people are inevitable gonna have if she was seen there and not here. This was their last 'era' together. And she'd rather spend every waking moment of it with them than with any other posse. It's gonna look bad for her, and she didn't want the girls thinking anything else. She knows she's overthinking it, but she wouldn't risk it. She knew the backslash Camila got within the fandom when she was included in 'Taylor's squad.' She shakes her head at the thought rushing through her. This is why Kendall is bad for her anxiety. As much as she wants to say 'fuck everyone else. I know my truth', she can't help it.

"She invited you guys too, and I'm sorry I didn't mention anything earlier. It's just that... Well, I'd really rather spend the night with you guys."

A nod.

An understanding.

"Well, what are we waiting for? This boot-ey needs to be shaken!" Normani says clearing the tension

 

* * *

"Dude, where's your potato?" Bella asks as she puts her arm around Kendall.

Kendall locks her phone after seeing that the said potato hasn't texted her anything. She even checked Instagram while she was on glam, but the girl hasn't posted anything too. But who cares? She has all her friends in here with her. Her family having fun and no one is having any drama. She doesn't care. "She has a show. Or her friend has. And they were there to support or whatever." Kendall hides her disappointment with a straight go at her drink.

"But is she coming?" Bella asks as she steadies herself. Kendall takes the drink from her friend and tells someone to go get them some water. "You know, we've been teasing our very own Lauren that we'd be meeting your new Lauren!"

Kendall stares blankly at her clearly drunk friend who was wiggling her eyebrows at her. Or trying... because her eyes are hooded and she looked like she was blinking so fast.

"Okay babe. You wanna sit down a bit?" Kendall says as she puts her hand to her friend's waist and leads them to the couch.

"Don't change the subject, Kenny!" They dropped down at the couch at the VVIP section as Kendall waits for the water. "We're gonna make this photo... you know that meme where two people point at each other and was like shocked and you know. Like Margot Robbie? and Jaime Pressly?? Have you seen that? It was so funny!!"

Kendall taps her friend's head who was resting on her shoulder. She hums and said. "Yeah. But it'll only be funny if they looked alike. Lauren and... Lauren only has the same name." At first, when Kendall was picturing introducing Lauren to the her friends, she had thought that it'll be funny to introduce Lauren to Lauren... But now she felt weird saying their names in the same sentence.

"Daniel said we should call the new Lauren by her last name because it's hot. How do you pronounce it though?"

Kendall laughs at how her friends attempts to try pronouncing Jauregui.

"Maybe you guys should stop calling her the 'new Lauren'. I don't think she'd appreciate that... and Lauren..." Kendall grimaces as she falls onto the trap, "Our Lauren won't appreciate it either. 'Cause calling someone else 'new' makes it seem like we're replacing her. And we're not, okay?"

"I think you should tell her that. This new Lauren is all you could talk about." Bella says as she settles comfortably onto Kendall.

The water arrives and Kendall hands it to Bella. "She's not all I talk about."

"Whatever. And don’t tell her I said it, but our Lauren misses you... and do you? Miss her too?"

Of course Kendall does.

> _LaKe: Kendall Jenner and Lauren Perez_
> 
> _Kendall Jenner's girlfriend Lauren Perez …_
> 
> _Kendall Jenner seen with rumored girlfriend..._

She knows the rumor of them dating took a toll on how close their relationship is. And so many things had happened last year.

"Hey babe! There you are! Khloe is finally here and we should take a picture!" Kylie comes in. Noticing Bella's state, she asks, "Is she okay?"

"YUP!" Bella says as she pops the 'p', and smiles dreamily at Kylie, while Kendall shakes her head.

"Can we call someone to look out for her first?"

* * *

"Hey Dinah?"

"Hmmm?" Dinah says as she puts Lauren on her bed. They had a great night off, and as always, Dinah took care of the rest of the girls. "I don't know if I had told you this, but I really wanna thank you for supporting me in everything."

Dinah laughs at this as she struggles to remove Lauren's shoes. "Okay there. Let me get my phone so I could snapchat this."

Lauren sits up immediately and groans as she feels her head pound. "But for real. You're so supportive of me, you know? Like you're always happy for me. In everything I do. Ever work I do. And whoever I'm with, you're always, 'Awww Lauren. I'm so happy for you!' and you don't judge."

Dinah had to stop a moment when Lauren used her baby voice on her. It's been so long. And okay, more importantly, Lauren might have been drunk off her ass. Dinah contemplates on getting her phone, but she forgets where it is right now. _Damn_. Dinah sees that Lauren is looking at her softly, even with tired eyes. "Aw come on, Lolo. That what friends are for. Or sisters rather. We support each other. I mean, you're with us, even though we all know you could've been with Kendall and all the right people."

"I guess I'm a little afraid." Lauren replies softly

"Of what?" Dinah asks as she successfully drops the first shoe on the floor. Lauren really had to wear this boots today, huh?

"That we'll never be like this again?"

Dinah grunts as she works on the other shoe and says, "What do you mean?"

"I guess, one of the reasons why I stuck with this group, other than we had no choice, is that even though it sucks, it's that we're all there for each other, you know? Bad times and great times. And I know our friendship will always be there. But... when we're all working on our own thing. And we'd be performing alone. And going to after-party's. Who's gonna take care of me? I just... I hate being alone." Dinah then stops pulling Lauren's shoe and finally looks up to Lauren. "Hey. You're never alone. And I'll be there on your first performance! Just as I expect you to be at mine. And Ally's. And Normani's." Dinah gently pushes Lauren so the girl can lie down.

"But it's not the same?" Lauren says as she puts her arm to cover her eyes

"It'll be for the better." Lauren sure hope so.

* * *

Kendall sighs tiredly as she walks up to her bedroom. It's barely 4am and her energy has run out.

The party has been a blast but she wonders if she should just keep it lowkey next year. She laughs at this because she knows it's always what she had always said every night after her birthday, but never follows on it.

She jumps in surprise as she opens the light and she sees a giant potato plushie sitting on her bed. She tries to calm her heart as she walks slowly towards it. She had crazy experiences with fans but then she immediately thought of the green-eyed girl missing-in-action today.

She touches the plushie and grabs the card next to it with a curly handwriting all over it.

_‘Happy birthday Kenny!!! (You damn scorpio lmao) here’s a cutie potato to accompany you when I couldn’t!) Thank you for the crazy genuine friendship! I didn’t expect to have this fun, worthwhile, amazing experiences with you! I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve you! Here’s to more late night/middle of the day conversations regardless of the time zones, to funny stories and crazy adventures!!_

_Love always, your potato xx’_

She suddenly felt her heart beat faster and went for her phone. She winces in pain as she stumbles on the edge of her bed and whispers, “Damn Jauregui.”

She dials her number and waits for the other girl to pick up.

And when she did, Kendall couldn’t help but smile so big.

She puts her phone to loudspeaker and squeezes her big plushie with both arms,dropping herself onto her bed. Her heart flutters at how the plushie smells like Lauren. She remembers because when she stayed over, she had to use Lauren’s lotion and perfume.

“What the fuck? What time is it?” She hears Lauren groan at the other side.

“That’s the worst way to greet someone on her birthday” Kendall chuckles and traces the green patch on the potato’s eyes.

Kendall hears some muffled sound from the other line.

‘Oh my god I love you, Dinah.’

A gulp

‘Shut up Lauren’

“Wait a sec” Lauren says.

A soft thud

‘Dinah I think I’ve just broken my ankle. Help.’

...

‘Aw! Did you just hit me with my own pillow?’

‘Lauren get the fuck outta here!’

‘This is my room!’

...

‘OUCH! Did you just hit me again?’

‘If you don’t keep it down, this lovely lamp of yours will be flying next!’

Kendall laughs at this. She plays with the small hands/arms of the potato plushie.

“Sorry. Dinah took care of me, and my ringtone woke her up… Actually, it woke both of us up. And she just kicked me out of my room.”

“I got your gift.” Kendall says as she moves on to the potato's equally small feet.

Lauren’s voice was hoarse as she says, “Mm-yeah? Did you like it?”

“I love you” Kendall says sincerely.

A moment.

“I’m guessing I nailed it, huh?” Lauren chuckles.

“How did you--?”

“I talked to Jen. And she let me in when you left for the party. I dropped by before I went to Ally’s show. Did you really like it?”

“It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

Lauren snorts and says, “I’m sure.”

“It is!" Kendall knew for sure this would be one of her favorites. "So you didn’t talk to me the whole day and made me feel like you couldn’t care less as to how my day was going only to surprise me?” Kendall says, not minding it one bit.

“Again. Nailed it”

They both laugh, then Lauren says, “Can we catch up tomorrow though? The hangover is about to catch up and I'm not yet ready”

“Okay.” Kendall says with content.

Before she hangs up, Lauren stops her.

“What?” Kendall asks.

A pause.

Then she hears Lauren singing softly to her a birthday song in Spanish.

“Happy birthday, Kenny. I really hope you had a great day.”

Realizing it now. Kendall wouldn’t have it any other way. “I did. I really did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! The filler scenes sucks!

**Author's Note:**

> visit me at d0vvntherabbithole.tumblr.com


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